On Monday, Frankfurt Trust (BHF-Bank, Sal. Oppenheim group) launched the FT Global Infrastructure Diversified fund, managed by Birgit Ebner, which aims to profit from mega-trends in infrastructure investment. The portfolio will include 80 to 100 positions, most of them equally weighted. The portfolio will initially include large caps such as Telefónica and Duke Energy, but will later be focused on innovative small and midcaps such as the Brazilian AES Tiete, ro the American Itron. The actively-managed product is available in two share classes, one for retail investors, and the other for institutionals. Characteristics Name: FT Global InfraStructure Diversified ISIN: DE000A0NEBS3 Front-end fee: 1.50% Minimal subscription: EUR2,500 or EUR50/month

Hector Sants, head of the Financial Services Authority, on Monday claimed that banks have still not understood their responsibility for the financial crisis. He warned that the regulator would persist in its tougher regulatory approach, even if the economy begins to recover.

An investigative report by La Tribune, published on 9 November, reveals that UBS could not have been unaware that Bernard Madoff was meaningfully involved in the management of the Sicav Luxalpha American Selection and US Equity Plus funds, as revealed in an “operating memorandum” from the US Equity Plus fund, in which Madoff’s name appeared more than 20 times. In this document, UBS named Madoff as sub-depository of the fund and guardian of its assets. But, as the CSSF found in January of this year, this management subcontract does not absolve UBS of its repsonsibilities as depository. If the information in the prospectus was inaccurate, then the bank would be open to charges of fraud, which could mean a criminal case and a nullification of the agreement. UBS Fund Services Luxembourg (UBSFSL) failed to fulfil its duties as the evaluator of the fund, by accepting falsified documents edited by Madoff to calculate the valuations which were then communicated to investors. The net asset value of the fund is now zero. As a result, as circular 2002/77, dated 27 November 2002, from the Luxembourg regulator (CSSF) indicates, UBSFSL is now obligated to reimburse investors for the difference between the overvalued net asset value applied to the fund shares subscribed to and the recalculated net asset value (which is now equal to zero). The circular also defines the responsibilities of the depository in cases when failure to observe investment regulations results in a loss. In this case, page 20 of the operating memorandum states that and investors or funds who experience a loss will be reimbursed by the party at fault, “in principle the portfolio manager,” which would mean UBS Third Party Management. If this entity fails to pay, the fund promoter is liable to do so in its place. Responsibility may also fall back on the manager - and the promoter is none other than UBS AG, La Tribune concludes.

On Tuesday, the Julius Baer group announced that as of the end of October, assets under management for clients had risen 22% compared with the beginning of this year, to CHF234bn. Assets under management (AUM) incrased 17% to CHF150bn, excluding the acquisition of ING Bank (Switzerland), which will be concluded only in first quarter 2010. Performance improved for most asset classes, while currency effects were neutral overall. Net subscriptions evolved favourably in all regions, but at a slower pace than in first quarter. Julius Baer notes, however, that “the more tense regulatory environment in some European countries” led some clients to reallocate their assets. In addition, the Julius Baer group has begun a gradual withdrawal from the United States retail market.

Roughly 200 items belonging to Bernad Madoff - watches, his personalized Mets jacket and Post-it notes - will go on the auction block this weekend in a government-run sale designed to raise at least USD500,000 for the victims of his Ponzi scheme.

The Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources familiar with the matter, that SAC Capital Advisors, one of the largest hedge funds in the United States, is said to be caught up in the major investigation of insider trading on Wall Street now underway. Richard Choo Beng, a witness who is cooperating with investigators, is said to have agreed to provide information to prosecutors about a hedge fund he worked at from 1999 to 2004, which is said to be SAC.

The Würzburg public prosecutor’s office has refused to release Helmut Kiener, the founder of the hedge fund K1 Global Sub Trust, accused of defrauding Barclays and BNP Paribas of EUR280m, on bail, Handelsblatt reports. Kiener had offered to post a bail of EUR500,000, but the court found that he presented a risk of flight and of destruction of evidence. The public prosecutor has refused to grant Kiener diplomatic immunity, which he claimed as a representative of Guinea-Bissau.

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has appointed Andrew Tunks as interim director of fixed income. He was most recently head of fixed income and global macro at Old Mutual. Dean Buckley, managing director of SWIP, said: «The newly created position of director of fixed income illustrates SWIP’s commitment to the fixed income sector. Over the coming weeks more than GBP20 billion fixed income assets will transfer from Insight to SWIP, bringing our fixed income assets under management to more than GBP65 billion».

Nemesis Asset Management has appointed Robert Sargent, former CEO and Business Head of Lehman Brothers Asset Management (Europe, Middle East & Africa), as the Head of Asset Management in the UK. He will be based in Nemesis Asset Management’s London offices and will report to Pier-Alberto Furno, CEO of the Group. Nemesis Asset Management together with Nemesis SAM have approximately USD400m in client assets under management. The firm, first established as a joint venture with Lehman in 2004 - when it was called Furno and Del Castaño Capital Partners (FCCP) - provides active equity investment services, principally to high net worth individuals and family offices. Immediately after Lehman Brothers’ collapse, Pier-Alberto Furno bought Lehmans’ share in the joint venture.

Miles Geldard, a specialist in convertibles, has left RWC Partners, which he joined in 2006, to launch his own convertible activities, Citywire reports. Geldard, who was previously at JP Morgan Asset Management, managed funds including the RWC Global Convertibles fund (EUR1.3bn), which, since its launch in January 2006, has posted returns of 9.8% (Lipper data), compared with 2% for the UBS Global Focus Convertible index. RWC has also recently launched a distressed convertibles fund managed by Geldard and Lee Manzi. The two funds will now be co-managed by Manzi and Grant Webster.

Ignis Asset Management and Axial Investment Management, both owned by the insurer Pearl Group, have merged, and will now conduct their activities under the single brand name Ignis. The group represents a total of GBP71bn in assets. A statement says that the merger will make it possible to add to the fixed income team at Ignis, and that a high alpha product is under study. Funds of hedge funds, which are currently managed exclusively for Pearl Group clients, may also be opened to institutionals.

Royal Bank of Scotland is reported to have received several offers for its asset management activities, which have total assets of about GBP30bn. According to the Times, BlackRock, Neuberger Berman and Aberdeen Asset Management, which has recently acquired Nationwide Funds, are said to be interested. The names of Schroders and Henderson have also borne mention. According to the newspaper, the asset management unit of RBS is valued at between GBP250m and GBP300m.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the director of Burlington Northern Santa Fe has announced that Berkshire Hathaway, the investment fund owned by Warren Buffett, is liquidating its positions in rival rail transport firms Norfolk Souther and Union Pacific. Berkshire is preparing to conclude its acquisition of Burlington Northern.

The Hennessee Hedge Fund Index has fallen 0.50% in October, while the S&P 500 lost 1.98% in the same period, the Hennessee Group reports. Since the beginning of the year, the index now shows growth of 20.12%, compared with 14.72% for the S&P 500. The Hennessee Long/Short Equity Index lost 1.39% in October (+17.07% since the beginning of the year), while the Arbitrage/Event Driven index gained 0.81% (+24.45% since the beginning of the year). Global/Macro stagnated in October, with a loss of 0.12% (+21.15% for the year to the end of October).

Robert McCann, the new head of wealth management for the United States at UBS, has assembled a team of former Merril Lynch executives to help him bring the unit back to profitability, the Wall Street Journal reports. He announced on Monday that four former Merrill colleagues, including Bob Mulholland and Brian Hull, would join him at UBS. John Brown and Paula Polito will follow.

John Grayken, the head of real-estate private-equity group Lone Star Funds, wants to raise USD20 billion to distressed debt. To get the money, Mr. Grayken is cutting some of his fees by more than 50%.

On the basis of results published by 71% of funds in the sample, the Credit Suisse/Tremont hedge fund index appears to show growth of only 0.17% in October, compared with 3.04% in September. Since the beginning of the year, average performance thus comes to 15.16%. Of 14 strategies and sub-strategies, only three finished the month in negative territory: equity market neutral, with -0.53%, and long/short equity, with -1.18%, while the heaviest losses (-2.23%) were from managed futures. However, equity short bias showed gains of 5.53%. For the first ten months of the year, the strongest performance is for convertibles arbitrage (45.64%), while the heaviest losses (18.53%) are from equity short bias.

To build its personnel in the Middle East, SG Private Banking, the wealth management arm of the Société Générale group, has announced the appointment of Eddy Abramo, CEO of SG Private Banking (Middle East), and Eric Lorentz, director in charge of Arab high net worth clients. Abramo, 37, will pursue the private bank’s growth strategy in Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and will oversee the development of the range of products and services aimed at Arab and Indian high net worth clients, SG Private Banking states. Lorentz, 49, will be based in the United Arab Emirates, and will direct and coordinate marketing and sales activities aimed at Arab clients at SG Private Banking offices in Europe and the Middle East.

Helmut Kiener, the founder of the hedge fund K1, facing charges of fraud, claims that Barclays and other investors are leading a “witch hunt” against him to detract attention from their own mistakes, the Financial Times reports. In a written appeal for release from prison, obtained by the Financial Times, Keiner’s lawyer claims that his client is guilty of poor investment decisions at worst.

The prices of natural resources are continuing to rise or remain at high levels as industrial conjuncture begins to recover, the newspaper Les Echos observes. Investors in search of diversification are generating significant speculative demand for these resources. Professor Nouriel Roubini recently estimated that prices in the commodities sector rose too far, too fast. “Fundamentals are improving, and we are entering a global recovery” phase, he claimed, which would justify a rise in the price of oil from USD30 to USD50, but not more. The extra USD30 in the current price of USD80 is solely due to demand fed by speculation, he says.

En septembre, les organismes de placement collectif et les fonds d’investissement spécialisés au Luxembourg ont enregistré des souscriptions nettes de 10,467 milliards d’euros, selon la Commission de surveillance du secteur financier (CSSF). Avec l’impact positif des marchés financiers de 23,95 milliards d’euros, cela porte les encours du secteur à 1.773,834 milliards d’euros, soit une augmentation de 1,98 % sur un mois. Par rapport à septembre 2008, les encours sont en repli de 1,27 %. Le nombre d’organismes de placement collectif et de fonds d’investissement spécialisés pris en considération est de 3.457 par rapport à 3.449 le mois précédent, ajoute la CSSF. 2.082 entités ont adopté une structure à compartiments multiples ce qui représente 10.832 compartiments. En y ajoutant les 1.375 entités à structure classique, un nombre total de 12.207 entités sont actives sur la place financière.

La filiale espagnole de gestion d’actifs de Banca Privada d’Andorra, BPA Global Funds AM, a fait enregistrer le BPA Iberian Equities comme nouveau compartiment de sa sicav luxembourgeoise BPA International Selection Fund. Ce fonds d’actions espagnoles destiné à une clientèle institutionnelle internationale est confié au gérant-star Gonzalo Lardiés, rapporte Funds People. BPA vise entre autres les marchés chilien et mexicain.

Pioneer Investments rationalise la gamme de fonds de droit luxembourgeois de Pioneer Asset Management S.A. Ainsi, à compter du 27 novembre, le fonds Pioneer CIM verra le nombre de ses compartiments revenir de huit à deux. Il ne restera plus que le Pioneer CIM – Euro Fixed Income, qui intègrera le Pioneer CIM –Euro Convertible Bond, et le Pioneer CIM – Global Equity, qui lui incorpore les Pioneer CIM – US Quant Equity, Japanese Quant Equity, India Equity, Latin America Equity et Global Gold Mining.

Prudential a annoncé jeudi le lancement de Prudential Al-Wara’ Asset Management, société de gestion basée en Malaisie, entièrement dédiée à la gestion selon les principes islamiques de la charia, annonce Asian Investor. Zulkifli Ishak, ancien directeur des investissements charia chez Prudential Fund Management, devient CEO et CIO de la nouvelle structure, qui proposera aux institutionnels malaisiens des mandats offshore et onshore.

Le bain de sang social tant redouté par certains n’aura pas lieu chez BNP Paribas Fortis. D’ici à 2012, BNP Paribas Fortis devrait enregistrer 2 000 départs naturels et 1 250 travailleurs seront embauchés, ce qui correspond à une perte nette de 750 emplois au sein de la banque.

Depuis le début de l’année, les hedge funds asiatiques hors Japon ont affiché une performance de 25,92 % dont 9 % pour le troisième trimestre, d’après Hedge Fund Research (HFR). Avec le Japon, le gain se limite à 15,26 %. En revanche, l’indice HFRX pour la Chine marque une hausse de 6,1 % pour juillet-septembre et de 44,2 % depuis le début de l’année.HFR estime qu'à fin septembre l’encours des hedge funds asiatiques se montait à 73,7 milliards de dollars, dont 800 millions de dollars de souscriptions nettes pour le troisième trimestre, les premières entrées nettes depuis le deuxième trimestre 2008.

Après des rachats l’an dernier, les investisseurs sont revenus dans les fonds d’East Capital depuis février, selon le Financial Times, qui a interviewé Peter Elam Håkansson, fondateur de la société de gestion suédoise spécialisée sur les pays émergents. La demande était si forte que la société a dû temporairement fermer son fonds pays baltes pendant l’automne, car les marchés locaux ne pouvaient absorber ces flux entrants. Aujourd’hui, East Capital a une équipe de 150 personnes gérant 3 milliards d’euros, rappelle le FT.

L’intérêt des investisseurs pour les sociétés de gestion «durables» ne cesse de croître, indique Fondsprofessionell. Selon la norme EDA (pour ethisch dynamischer Anteil) de l’autrichien software-systems.at, qui mesure par exemple la transparence, le soutien aux énergies renouvelables, l’absence d'énergie atomique ou de mines anti-personnelles dans les portefeuilles des sociétés, les vingt gestionnaires les plus durables sont en novembre : Allianz Invest, Baring, BlackRock, Carl Spängler KAG, CPB KAG, Credit Suisse, Erste Sparinvest, Fortis Investments, Henderson, Jul.Meinl Invest, Julius Bär, Kepler, ÖkoWorld Lux S.A., Pictet Funds S.A., Pioneer Inv. Austria, Raiffeisen KAG, Sarasin, Schelhammer & Schattera, Security KAG et Volksbank Invest KAG.

Le 4 novembre, Pioneer Investments a entamé la commercialisation du Pioneer Funds – Emerging Market Bond Local Currencies, le nouveau compartiment du fonds luxembourgeois Pioneer Funds investi principalement dans la dette des pays émergents libellée en devises locales, rapporte le site italien Bluerating. Le gérant de ce fonds sera Greg Saichin, patron des marchés émergents et du high yield.

Lombard Odier vient de signer des accords de distribution en Italie avec Gruppo Banca Sella et Allfunds Bank, rapporte le site italien Bluerating. L’accord avec Banca Sella prévoit que toutes les banques du groupe pourront vendre à leur clientèle «retail» les 45 compartiments de la Sicav LODH Invest agréée en Italie. Allfunds mettra de son côté ces produits à la disposition des 20 clients institutionnels utilisant sa plate-forme.